Saturday, July 21, 2012

It will be one year ago tomorrow that Anders Breivik went on a mass shooting spree in Norway.

He has been arrested, and tried; we are awaiting the decision of the court as to what basis he will be under arrest for the foreseeable decades - insane, confined to a prison hospital cell; or sane, confined to a jail cell.

In either case it appears he will be in the same special facility, well away from the prison population. A few appropriately trained and skilled men will be hired to interact with him, men who have the training to defend themselves against unarmed physical attacks, should Breivik become hostile and aggressive.

The lack of a willingness to discuss the issues of mass shootings and guns, and the very different ways we look at Islamic terrorist activity with zero tolerance, while the right in particular is willing to look past domestic mass shootings of any other variety, or effectively to ignore the totality of individual deaths and injuries is a stunning example of emotion rather than intellect in action.

We should have the same opposition to each of these kinds of killings - mass shootings under cover of ANY justification, or the cumulative individual killings in similar numbers. The figures I am hearing in the media are that we average 80 killings every day, and 87 injuries, from firearms.

Those who are pro-gun will often be islamophobic, like our Minnesota horror Michele Bachmann, willing to be intolerant of anyone that can be characterized in any way as foreign, not extreme right wing, not Christian (or occasionally on short sufferance Jewish). But those same people who see jihadists hiding under every bed, including in the State Department, or in our military, turn a completely blind eye to the kind of mass shootings we have seen this week here in the U.S. in Aurora, Colorado, or in Tuscaloosa, Alabama ( a mass shooting that has fallen off the media radar) or over the border in Toronto, Canada.

We have walking, talking dumb-asses like Louis Gohmert claiming the mass shooting is because we have attacks on our Christian Judeo beliefs.

No, we don't. There are no religious attacks, nothing at all along the lines of past Anti-semitism where there were incidence of active violence, or the more passive form of attack, discrimination. We don't have mass shootings because of a lack of conformity to fundies' freaky religious obsessions and superstition passing under guise of faith.

We have these shootings, both individual and mass shootings, because we have people who have guns who then go out and, in the mistaken belief they are somehow in the right and others are somehow in the wrong and deserve to be punished, SHOOT people.

We see this in the murder suicides that occur on the average of 3 times a week or more. We see this in the gang related gun violence, where someone feels justified in killing others, both targeted and innocent bystanders, because of some rivalry or conflict.

NO. Wrong. Bad.

The reality is that we let too many people who should not have guns gain access to guns. We let people stockpile weapons and ammunition, and dangerous accessories -- as we have seen in Aurora Colorado where dangerous assault-style weapons, bullet proof/bullet resistant body armor, 6,000 rounds of ammunition, multiple magazines including a high volume drum magazine, and tear gas/pepper gas and explosives were accumulated over a period of a few weeks.

The reality is that we have seen more violence, far more violence from the extreme right -- like Timothy McVeigh in the Oklahoma City bombing, and from Anders Breivik in Norway who shot up fellow white Christian Norwegians "for their own good, so they wouldn't become multicultural", and from the pro-more-gun policies of the right. Those anti-regulation pro-easy gun access policies allowed Jarrod Loughner to get a gun, easily, as well as the ammo.

At least Anders Breivik had to work at acquiring HIS weapons and ammunition.

There is NO outrage expressed whatsoever when someone like the Tea Party bimbo, Sharron Angle makes statements about people getting their way with bullets if they don't get their way with ballots.
The right routinely quotes Thomas Jefferson's ill-advised and highly criticized statement about revolution and blood being a good thing. Those words were written from Paris during the earliest days of the French Revolution. Jefferson left France before that revolution got really bloody. The reality is that Jefferson called the turnover in political parties where he was elected the "1800 Revolution". The other Founding Fathers did NOT support insurrection, but ONLY change at the ballot box; evidence for that were the suppression of Shay's Rebellion and the Whiskey Rebellion.

The notion that personal firearms are in any way realistic opposition as a last resort against government forces is stupid in an age where we have tanks,stealth bombers and drones, and air craft carriers, and AWACs. What we do have are crazy dangerous right wing militias who use our lax gun laws to stockpile ammunition and weapons, and who engage in paramilitary training exercises and dangerously foolish and ill-informed, largely right wing political ideas that would be disastrous should they ever follow through on them. This includes the right wing white supremacists, etc., embraced by the right at events like CPAC.

These people want guns because like the lone gunman in the mass shootings, or the individuals in the frequent murder/ suicides, they believe they will right some ill-conceived and ill-informed wrong, taking the issue of force into their own hands. The same hold true for the increased not really justified homicides under the shoot first laws. In nearly every instance, the incident would have been better handled by law enforcement, and would have been with only a small amount of patience by the shooter. In the few genuine, valid, legitimate justifiable homicide shootings, our prior law would have better addressed the incidents. Instead we have a huge increase in the shootings of unarmed teens, or adult neighbors, or other innocent members of the public, who pose no real threat to anyone.

Other nations act with greater sanity and greater rationality, and certainly with a more consistent attitude towards violence than we do. They have less gun violence than we do as a result.

We are not safer with all these guns and gun violence; we are definitely not more free either.

It is past time for us to stop looking the other way, to stop making excuses for gun violence, and instead to put an end to it. It can be done. It means taking a clear-eyed, clear-headed, far less emotional look at the terrible failure of our gun culture, and the systematic dismantling of it.

Otherwise every damned time someone runs their mouth or their keyboard about how bad those islamo-terrorist extremists are, those people should go look in the mirror. Because it is their policies and politics they endorse that are killing far more American citizens than any foreign extremist.

Gun deaths are gun deaths. Look at the right, look at Breivik, Loughner, and McVeigh. Look at this Insurrection timeline --- all from the right. Whether a gang banger, a crazy person with a gun, or the perpetrators of domestic violence, there is one thing they have in common. They all believe it is acceptable and even proper to shoot other people; they believe they are justified when they are not.

The ONLY solution to this problem of false belief is the sane and sensible reduction and restriction of firearms to protect ourselves and our larger society from these people.

Note: I was going to not publish this, but it is different from the post that Baldr put up--so here goes!

It seems that the endangered California Condor is threatened by lead poisoning.
The California condor, which once numbered in the thousands in the western United States and Mexico, is the largest land bird in North America. Attempts at reintroduction since the bird's near extinction in 1982 have led to free-flying populations in Arizona, California and Baja California. Dubbed "thunderbird" by American Indians, its impressive wings can span more than 9 feet. A type of vulture, the creature's bald head allows feeding without the mess of carcass flesh sticking to its plumage.

The Condor is endangered by lead exposure from ammunition and requires ongoing human intervention for population stability and growth, according to a new study led by the University of California, Santa Cruz, and involving the University of Colorado Boulder.

Since 1982, the condor population has increased from 22 to approximately 400, but only through intensive management including captive breeding, monitoring and veterinary care. The bird's recovery has been deceptively successful as its primary threat -- poisoning from lead-based bullets ingested as fragments from carrion -- has gone largely unmitigated, according to the study. Twenty percent of condors captured every year have deadly levels of lead. Scientists said they were surprised at the high numbers, but a condor eats between 75 and 150 dead animals a year and one lead fragment is enough to kill it.
A study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that annually from 1997 to 2010, 20 percent of the California condors sampled suffered lead poisoning and needed chelation therapy, a metal detoxification process that also is used for children with lead poisoning. Cumulatively over the time period, nearly half of the population tested was poisoned by lead, with many birds suffering repeat poisoning within and across years.

"Lead exposure and poisoning levels in condors continue to be epidemic," said co-author Dan Doak, a new endowed chair and professor in CU-Boulder's Environmental Studies Program. "Despite the current efforts to help the species, the wild population will decline again toward extinction in a few decades unless these unsustainable and very expensive efforts continue in perpetuity."

From 1997 to 2010, the annual prevalence of lead exposure -- with blood lead levels indicating potentially serious but nonlethal effects -- ranged from 50 to 88 percent in California condors in the wild. Also, the annual median blood lead levels in free-flying California condors exceeded the average for pre-release condors bred in captivity by at least threefold.

The researchers found no evidence that California's having outlawed lead shot in key areas inhabited by condors in 2008, resulted in lower incidence of lead exposure and poisoning. Although alternatives to lead-based bullets are available, regulations limiting the use of lead-based ammunition face stiff opposition from hunting organizations and gun-rights groups, according to the researchers.

The National Rifle Association regards any attempts to limit the use of lead in ammunition—for instance, using substitutes like copper—as an anti-gun move to infringe on gun owners’ constitutional rights.

Friday, July 20, 2012

The number of injured has gone up, although some of the new totals differ; that will likely be finalized soon. While the number of dead has been listed as 12, there appear to be at least two people from the nearby military base who are missing and presumed dead that may not be included in the lower total. One woman who was killed had narrowly avoided being shot in a Canadian mass shooting last month at a mall in Toronto. The Canadian authorities blame the lax U.S. gun laws for their increasing problem with firearms coming across our northern border in speaking about that June 2012 mass shooting.

The assault style rifle has been variously described as an AK 15 or an AK 47.

The information that the (alleged) shooters car had Tennessee plates was incorrect.

The youngest victim was 3 months old; the oldest in their mid-40s, as reported so far.

The shooter apparently had a history of identifying with the villains in comic book hero genre movies. He is reported to have made some statement to law enforcement while being arrested that he was the Joker, a reference to a BatMan villain. It has been reported that the shooter had died his hair either red-orange or orange. The comic book Batman villain Joker has usually been portrayed as having green hair, or yellow-green hair, with a few exceptions, like this example of the Ceaser Romero from the campy 60s Batman series.
His two handguns appear to be .40 Glocks. What does not appear to be true is that he was known to smoke pot, or that he ever had any psychological or mental illness problems. Rather he appears to have been a very shy and quiet but very intelligent man. There is no explanation for his actions so far.
He began acquiring the firearms this past May; it is sitll unconfirmed if the purchases were legally or illegally obtained, what kind of permits if any he may have had, or what kind of training if any that he had.

Congressman Louis Gohmert rivals the worst of the right wing extremists who celebrate and exalt stupidity.

He's in the running with any number of the extreme right who say stupid, factually challenged things. Gohmert has made some spectacularly ignorant and foolish comments in the past, including
his claims the CDC are going to become the jackbooted bacon police pounding on your door over your ill-considered dietary choices.
It would be funny if it weren't for the fact that even more foolish and ill-educated people keep electing the dufus; you know, those far right winger Texans who believe the Loch Ness Monster is real and demand that pseudo-fact in some of their textbooks.

So it should come as no surprise that Gohmert has outdone himself recently, joining our own spectacular embarrassment entry in the foolish, mean spirited fact-averse derby, Michele Bachmann, in calling for the McCarthy-ist witch hunt of Huma Abedin, along with some other right wing bigots, Lynn Westmoreland (who called the Obamas 'uppity', a typical Georgia racist), Trent Franks, an Arizona-style extremist who thinks Obama is pro-jihad and who wants to criminalize ALL abortion, and Thomas Rooney of Florida.
But since Bachmann has drawn the most attention for that debacle, Gohmert has made an attempt to outdo Bachmann in tasteless, ill-considered, and just plain wrong stupid claims.

There is NO attack on Christian-Judeo beliefs. This country is not Christian, or Jewish, or any other specific religion; we are a secular nation that includes equally ALL religions, and those who do not embrace any religion, both atheists and agnostics.

It resonates however to the same god loves guns, god wants me to shoot people, the Bible asserts a right to guns crowd that George Zimmerman was appealing to when in his recent Faux News interview he asserted that shooting an unarmed teen whom he provoked and stalked was 'God's plan'.
Apparently these religious zealots of guns and violence missed that key parts of the Bible that address loving your neighbor as you love yourself, or the quote from 1 Corinthians 13:13:

But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

To round out the spewing forth of false accusations we have this:

The content of Breitbart's site that Gohmert mentions is so dishonest, so consistently ugly and hateful, that if used to mop up sewage, it would get the sewage dirty. What other news sources with greater integrity and professional standards reports is quite different from what Gohmert claims here.

First, Obama has consistently used the referenced $1.5 billion in aid as leverage. Back in 2011, Obama threatened to withdraw it if Mubarak didn't stop his persecution of protesters, and if he didn't genuinely reform his regime.
In March of this year, some four months ago, the Guardian newspaper in the UK reported this about the current status of our aid to Egypt, which is ENTIRELY different than what Gohmert is claiming.

U.S. officials and lawmakers said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has determined that it was in the U.S. national interest to allow $1.3 billion in military assistance to flow. She also certified that Egypt is meeting its obligations to the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, which frees up an additional $200 million in economic aid, they said.
A senior State Department official said the decisions "reflect our overarching goal: to maintain our strategic partnership with an Egypt made stronger and more stable by a successful transition to democracy."

While disappointed, Leahy urged Clinton to release the money in stages and make payments based on improvements in the situation in Egypt. Leahy is the chairman of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that oversees foreign aid and operations.

So, no surprise, that is EXACTLY what Sec. State Clinton is doing -- providing the money, as Egypt demonstrates compliance, in small amounts.
The Daily Beast, just today, noted:

But the Brotherhood’s priorities are clear, and Morsi is a loyal Brotherhood member. The priority now is governing—and that means wrestling with the military and the judiciary, managing the economy, steering the transition process. It does not mean picking fights with Israel or the United States. The movement has managed carefully to find out what Western interlocutors needed to hear and then say the words it was asked—that it would honor Egypt’s international obligations and make no unilateral changes in the peace treaty with Israel.

Gohmert is an idiot; Gohmert is a hateful idiot who is an islamophobe, willing to launch an unjustified attack on people.
We should be very wary and distrusting of anyone who uses religion to justify violence, and that includes people calling themselves Christians. I use the description 'calling themselves Christian' because their conduct and statements suggest they have failed to grasp the core beliefs of that religion.
This is true of Bachmann and Gohmert and their three stooges who signed the unconscionable letters trying to start an unjustified investigation into Huma Abedin, and it is true of Gohmert trying to blame a lack of what he considers Christian conformity for the mass shooting in Colorado.
Hatred is what is behind such shootings, hatred and the inability to identify with others as like yourself.
Fear and suspicion and false attribution of wrongs are behind mass shootings. Our gun culture is behind such shootings. People who contribute to suspicion and hatred, whether it is fear of Muslims, or fear of black teens in Hoodies, are responsible for senseless and utterly avoidable violence and tension. On an individual level, that means violence that results in murders; on an international level is means violence that results in war and massive bloodshed.
They differ in degree and scale, but not in their essence.
Gohmert and Bachmann, Sean Hannity and Faux News and George Zimmerman are dangerous hate mongers in the name of religion. They should be repudiated, they should be disregarded, they should receive the contempt they so richly deserve.
Neither Bachmann or Gohmert should ever be allowed near political power in the future; Zimmerman should probably spend a good part of the near future of his life behind bars, and definitely never, ever be allowed to own a gun again, and never, ever be allowed to become a member of any kind of law enforcement entity.

So this guy appears to have been a successful med student until recently, and a law abiding citizen, (contrary to the misinformation of a commenter who didn't pass moderation - probably some misinformation from one of the right wing media propaganda sources).

Somewhere along the way he also became a gun nut, and part of the violent gun culture failure in the U.S., part of the gun culture stain.

(CBS/AP) The suspect apprehended in the mass shooting at a suburban Denver movie theater has been identified as James Eagan Holmes, 24, law enforcement sources told CBS News correspondent Bob Orr.

Twelve people died in the shooting at a showing of the new Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora, Colo., early Friday morning. A law enforcement source told Orr the shooting appears to have been carried out by a lone gunman.

One federal official told CBS News that at this time Holmes appears to have been "under the radar." CBS News reports Holmes doesn't appear to have a criminal record in Colorado or in California's San Diego County, where he lived previously. Pentagon officials said there is no record of Holmes having served in any branch of the military.

According to the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Denver, Holmes dropped out of medical school last month, The Associated Press reported. School spokeswoman Jacque Montgomery said she did not know when Holmes started school or why he withdrew.

There was no immediate word of any motive. Federal law enforcement officials were briefed on the attack, but at this point there is no indication it is terrorism-related, CBS News senior correspondent John Miller reports.

Police evacuated the area surrounding Holmes' Denver-area apartment, saying the residence was apparently booby-trapped. A law enforcement source told Orr that police saw what looked like "buckets of extra ammunition" and some kind of chemical inside his home.

Aurora Police chief Dan Oates said it could take hours or days to safely enter the apartment.

Police recovered four guns at the theater, including two pistols, a shotgun and what is believed to be an assault rifle, Orr reports. Authorities also recovered a ballistic helmet and a gas mask.

A law enforcement source told CBS News investigative producer Pat Milton that the attack appears to have been planned well in advance. Holmes parked his vehicle at the rear of the Century 16 theaters at the Aurora Mall and entered the theater through an emergency door in the back. He exited through the same door and was apprehended without incident.

The violent and chaotic scene erupted about 12:30 a.m. local time as the gunman stood at the front of the theater. Witnesses reported that the gunman entered the theater through an emergency exit door and threw a gas canister before opening fire.

"Witnesses tell us he released some sort of canister. They heard a hissing sound and some gas emerged and the gunman opened fire," Oates told reporters at a news conference.

Police, ambulances and emergency crews swarmed on the scene after frantic calls started flooding the 911 switchboard, officials said.

Officers found Holmes near a car behind the theater.

It was the worst mass shooting in Colorado since the Columbine High School massacre on April 20, 1999. Students Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, opened fire at the school in the Denver suburb of Littleton, about 15 miles west of Aurora, killing 12 classmates and a teacher and wounding 26 others before killing themselves in the school's library.

The shooting occurred in Theater 9, which has a capacity of around 300 people, according to CBS station KCNC-TV in Denver. The youngest reported victim is a 3-month-old, who is said to be doing fine at University Hospital, which is treating 20 patients, including nine in critical condition. Another victim is a six-year-old being treated at Children's Hospital, where a total of six victims were taken. Their condition wasn't known. Victims were rushed to six area hospitals overall.

Aurora police spokesman Frank Fania on ABC's "Good Morning America" said he didn't know yet if all the injuries were gunshot wounds. He said some might have been caused by other things such as shrapnel.

Police had earlier reported 14 deaths but later said that only 12 fatalities were confirmed.

An amateur video posted to YouTube showed people walking around outside the theater, apparently in the moments after the incident. One man was seen wearing a shirt that appeared to be bloodstained. He was being led by a police officer. Some people could be heard shouting.

William Kent, who was in an adjacent theater, said bullets came through the wall but, with the action on screen, people didn't realize what was happening.

"And they started the fire alarm or the emergency alarm, said that there had been something that happened in the building and evacuated everybody. There was a huge commotion to get out of the theater. When I exited, there were police officers with assault rifles running in," Kent told CBS News.

Benjamin Fernandez, who was also in an adjacent theater, said he saw a young girl, around 12 or 13 years old, laying on the concrete when he exited the building.

"From what I saw, she had two bullet wounds in her leg and just blood all over her stomach. Her friends were all just yelling, crying. ... We were just all pretty much in shock," he said on "CBS This Morning."
Witness Hayden Miller told KUSA-TV that he was inside Theater 16 and heard several shots.

"Like little explosions going on and shortly after that we heard people screaming," he told the station.

Hayden said at first he thought it was part of a louder movie next door. But then he saw "people hunched over leaving theater."

Paul Otermat, who told Sky News he was in the theater when the incident occurred, said he "thought it was a publicity stunt," when he saw a man in a long coat walk in and hurl what he believed was a tear gas canister at the crowd.

"Then he started firing shots into the crowd," Otermat said. He said he and his girlfriend ducked to the floor and crept out as gunfire continued. "My girlfriend saw a canister on the ground that was still foaming ... We ran through the lobby and we heard more shots, and we ran out into the parking lot and got into our car and left."

The police said 10 victims died at the theater and two at area hospitals.

Two people in critical condition were rushed to nearby Swedish Medical Center, spokeswoman Nicole Williams said.

She said emergency crews told her staff to prepare for several more patients from the shooting scene.

"We're on standby to receive," she said.

Aurora is located on the southeast outskirts of Denver, about 10 miles from downtown.

President Obama said in a statement that he and first lady Michelle Obama were "shocked and saddened" by the "horrific and tragic" shooting. Mr. Obama said his administration would do everything they can to support the people of Aurora.

"As we do when confronted by moments of darkness and challenge, we must now come together as one American family. All of us must have the people of Aurora in our thoughts and prayers as they confront the loss of family, friends, and neighbors," Mr. Obama said.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said in a statement that he and his wife, Ann, were "deeply saddened by the news of the senseless violence" that led to the loss of life and injuries. He said they were praying for the families and loved ones of the victims "during this time of deep shock and immense grief. We expect that the person responsible for this terrible crime will be quickly brought to justice."

While checking out the information about required gun show private sale background checks in Colorado, I came across this charming little paragraph. It demonstrates what a crock of organic fertilizer the claim was that FWM made recently that if we required background checks on gun sales, everyone would have to transfer their firearms to an FFL's inventory.
CLEARLY, that is NOT true, and we can and should make the stricter provisions on private gun sales a federal requirement so as to make it effective and consistent.
From wikipedia:
Presently, 17 states regulate private firearm sales at gun shows. Seven states require background checks on all gun sales at gun shows (California, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Oregon, New York, Illinois and Colorado). Four states (Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) require background checks on all handgun, but not long gun, purchasers at gun shows. Six states require individuals to obtain a permit to purchase handguns that involves a background check (Massachusetts, Michigan, North Carolina, Iowa, Nebraska). Certain counties in Florida require background checks on all private sales of handguns at gun shows. The remaining 33 states do not restrict private, intrastate sales of firearms at gun shows in any manner.[16][17]

And then we had the equally massive fail on the truth-o-meter for FWM's claim that gun sales to prohibited people, like felons and drug users, were not occurring at gun shows, and that claims and videos showing it occurring were 'dog and pony shows'.

Of course, he didn't try to claim that those were factually inaccurate bad sales; because he has no basis for such a claim.

However this paragraph from the same wikipedia article shows how massively wrong his assumptions and beliefs are -- and how the NRA lies to the world about the failure of the gun culture in this country.

Research and studies
In 2000, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) published the "Following the Gun" report.[18] The ATF analyzed more than 1,530 trafficking investigations over a two-and-a-half-year period and found gun shows to be the second leading source of illegally diverted guns in the nation. "Straw purchasing was the most common channel in trafficking investigations."[19] These investigations involved a total of 84,128 firearms that had been diverted from legal to illegal commerce. All told, the report identified more than 26,000 firearms that had been illegally trafficked through gun shows in 212 separate investigations. The report stated that: "A prior review of ATF gun show investigations shows that prohibited persons, such as convicted felons and juveniles, do personally buy firearms at gun shows and gun shows are sources of firearms that are trafficked to such prohibited persons. The gun show review found that firearms were diverted at and through gun shows by straw purchasers, unregulated private sellers, and licensed dealers. Felons were associated with selling or purchasing firearms in 46 percent of the gun show investigations. Firearms that were illegally diverted at or through gun shows were recovered in subsequent crimes, including homicide and robbery, in more than a third of the gun show investigations."

Gun-control advocate Garen Wintemute, Director of UC Davis’ Violence Prevention Research Program, released a study in 2007 claiming that gun shows are a venue for illegal activity, including straw purchases and unlicensed sales to prohibited individuals.[23] In contrast, in 2008, professors Mark Duggan and Randi Hjalmarsson at the University of Maryland and Brian Jacob from the University of Michigan released a paper that found no evidence that gun shows lead to substantial increases in either gun homicides or gun suicides.[24] The study looked at 2,200 gun shows in Texas and almost 1,200 gun shows in California during the period of 1994–2004 and examined their effect on gun homicide and gun suicide rates within a 25-mile radius of the shows in the four weeks immediately following their conclusion. The researchers stated that, “Taken together, our results suggest that gun shows do not increase the number of homicides or suicides and that the absence of gun show regulations does not increase the number of gun-related deaths as proponents of these regulations suggest.” However, the Duggan, et al., paper was critiqued publicly by other researchers from the University of California, Davis, the Harvard School of Public Health, the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Northeastern University, the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and the University of California, Berkeley. These researchers critiqued the model underlying the paper for failing to reflect the realities of the operations of gun markets and the dynamics of criminal gun use.[25]
In October 2009, the City of New York released “Gun Show Undercover: Report on Illegal Sales at Gun Shows.”[citation needed] The report details undercover investigations that took place at gun shows in three states—Tennessee, Nevada, and Ohio—between May and August 2009. Private investigators were hired by the Office of NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg to perform sting operations on federally licensed firearm dealers and unlicensed private sellers at 14 different shows in these states. Private investigators posing as purchasers approached 33 unlicensed sellers and told them that they “probably couldn’t pass a background check.” 22 (or 67%) of the private sellers sold a gun to them anyway. Additionally, 17 federally licensed dealers at the shows were approached by investigators who simulated a “straw purchase.” In a straw purchase, a prohibited purchaser recruits an individual with a clean criminal record to fill out paperwork, pass the background check, and purchase firearms for him/her. All but one licensed dealer sold investigators a gun in this manner, again despite the fact that it constituted a clear violation of federal law. These illegal transactions were videotaped by investigators.[citation neededATF criminal investigations at Gun ShowsFrom 2004 to 2006, ATF conducted surveillance and undercover investigations at 195 gun shows (approximately 2% of all shows). Specific targeting of suspected individuals (77%) resulted in 121 individual arrests and 5,345 firearms seizures. Seventy nine of the 121 ATF operation plans were known suspects previously under investigation.[1]Additionally, ATF Field Offices report that:

Between 2002 and 2005, more than 400 guns legally purchased at gun shows from licensed dealers in the city of Richmond, Virginia, were later recovered in connection with criminal activity. Bouchard notes that, "These figures do not take into account firearms that may have been sold at Richmond area gun shows by unlicensed sellers, as these transactions are more difficult to track."[3] It is noteworthy that the "in connection with criminal activity" category includes stolen guns later recovered from burglaries, but the report does not specify how many guns in the 400 gun figure cited were not guns used in the commission of a crime, but that were rather the fruits of criminal activity.

The Department of Justice reports, "after reviewing hundreds of trace reports associated with guns used in crime recovered in the New Orleans area and interviewing known gang members and other criminals, ATF Special Agents identified area gun shows as a source used by local gang members and other criminals to obtain guns."[1]

In 2003 and 2004, the San Francisco ATF Field Division conducted six general operations at Reno, Nevada, gun shows to investigate interstate firearms trafficking. During these operations, "agents purchased firearms and identified violations related to "off paper" sales, sales to out-of-state residents, and dealing in firearms without a license." The "ATF seized or purchased 400 firearms before making arrests and executing search warrants, which resulted in the seizure of an additional 600 firearms and the recovery of explosives."[1]

ATF's Columbus Field Division conducted its anti-trafficking operations based on intelligence from Cleveland police that "many of the guns recovered in high-crime areas of the city had been purchased at local gun shows." Subsequent gun show sting operations resulted in the seizure of "5 guns, one indictment, and two pending indictments for felony possession of a firearm." The state of Ohio is one of the top ten source states for recovered guns used in crime.[1]

The ATF's Phoenix Field Division reported that "many gun shows attracted large numbers of gang members from Mexico and California. They often bought large quantities of assault weapons and smuggled them into Mexico or transported them to California."[1] Garen Wintemute, a professor at the University of California at Davis, calls Arizona and Texas a "gunrunner's paradise."[26]

Regarding the trafficking of firearms from the U.S. into Mexico, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report in June 2009 which stated: “While it is impossible to know how many firearms are illegally smuggled into Mexico in a given year, about 87 percent of firearms seized by Mexican authorities and traced in the last 5 years originated in the United States, according to data from Department of Justice’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). According to U.S. and Mexican government officials, these firearms have been increasingly more powerful and lethal in recent years. Many of these firearms come from gun shops and gun shows in Southwest border states.” [7]

So any way you slice dice or chop it, gun shows are a highly significant contributor to the transfer of legal weapons to illegal buyers. Any way you fold, spindle or mutilate it, the NRA on behalf of their gun manufacturer puppet masters have a vested interest in the profits from all of these illegal sales -- it makes them money.

We need to close the loopholes, and to correct the bullshit misinformation and stupidity that is rampant among the gun nuts.

It wouldn't be a bad thing either, to restrict firearms so as to reduce or eliminate these occurrences of mass shootings, or the horrific frequency of murder/suicides and domestic violence, stalking and harassment incidents along with them.

It is morally, ethically, and logically indefensible for the gun nuts to try to justify any of the benefits of lax firearms regulation in the face of this obvious detriment to our life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.

I'm not all that surprised a mass shooter would wear a gas mask, and bullet proof vest.

Part of the fetish relationship between gun nuts and their weapons is the degree to which the weapons and their accessories have a strong emotional connection to their adherents. They get excitement, an emotional reaction from them, that ordinary equipment or items do not provide. It is part of a larger fantasy experience with gun nuts, part of a whole video-game/violent movie atmosphere heroics; they need the whole costume for the power rush. It seems similar to the kick that people get from the props for kinky sex. Watch a gun nut talking about their firearms sometime; look carefully at their affect for the emotions connected with firearms and related items. There are distinctive emotional changes that take place when the fetish items are involved.

That's why you see people inappropriately carrying firearms at social events, like the one Laci described here recently.
After becoming a focus for ridicule for his Dark Knight /Bain/Bane conspiracy theories........I wonder if Rush Limbaugh, or maybe the NRA is going to try to make up another silly liberal conspiracy theory out of this shooting at the movie, another bogus claim that this was done as a justification for Obama coming for their guns? Because Limp-bo and the NRA ARE that sick and twisted, althoguh it's hard to tell if it's from organic paranoia brought on by their politics deforming their amygdalas, or maybe just lead toxicity (or both).
from the STrib:

Updated: July 20, 2012 - 6:26 AMAURORA, Colo. - A police spokesman says the gas mask-wearing suspect arrested in connection with a mass shooting in the Denver suburb of Aurora is a man in his early 20s.Aurora police spokesman Frank Fania told ABC's "Good Morning America" that investigators don't believe anyone else was involved.
Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates says witnesses reported the person released some type of a canister, then they heard a hissing sound and saw a gas — and then the gunman started shooting.
Officers found the suspect near a car behind the theater and also located a gas mask, rifle, handgun and at least another weapon.
The suspect's name hasn't been released and police haven't indicated if there was a motive.

Did you happen to notice that we have more of these than other places?
Yes, there was one in Canada this week, but those are very very very rare there. There hasn't been on in the UK for more than a decade. In the UK, there was one - ONE - in 2010, and there hadn't been one before that since 1996, and not one before that since 1987. (For those who believe the UK has a total ban on guns, the Cumbria mass shooter of 2010 had owned a shot gun since 1974, and a rifle dating to 2007.)

Clearly, while there are multiple factors contributing to mass shooting occurrences, the availability of firearms is a key factor. Without guns available, they don't occur. Because of the unique correlation between firearms and impulsive acts (notably suicides, but also other violence), and there is greater safety for the user and ease of use of firearms to harm others compared to other means of random mass attacks.

from the STrib:

Police chief says 14 dead in Colorado theater shooting; officers check for explosivesAURORA, Colo. - A gunman opened fire early Friday at a suburban Denver movie theater on the opening night of the latest Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises," killing 14 people and injuring at least 50 others, authorities said.The gunman, who is in custody, stood at the front of the theater and fired into the crowd about 12:30 a.m. MDT at a multiplex theater in a mall in Aurora."Witnesses tell us he released some sort of canister. They heard a hissing sound and some gas emerged and the gunman opened fire," Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said at a news conference.Police, ambulances and emergency crews swarmed on the scene after frantic calls started flooding the 911 switchboard, officials said.Officers came running in and telling people to leave the theater, Salina Jordan told the Denver Post. She said some police were carrying and dragging bodies.Officers later found the gunman near a car behind the theater."A gas mask, rifle, handgun at least one additional weapon (were) found inside," he said.The suspect was taken into custody, but no name was released. Oates said there's no evidence of any other attackers. There was also no immediate word of any motive.The suspect spoke of "possible explosives in his residence. We are dealing with that potential threat," Oates saidPolice were at the Denver-area apartment and had evacuated other residents of the building. Oates did not say whether any explosives had been found.He said police also checked for explosives in the parking lot and at the Century 16 theater and secured those areas.Moviegoers spoke of their terror as violence erupted and people around them fell victim.Bejamin Fernandez, 30, told the Post that he heard a series of explosions. He said that people ran from the theater and there were gunshots as police shouted "get down!"Frenandez said he saw people falling, including one young girl.Jordan told the paper that one girl was struck in cheek, others in stomach including a girl who looked to be around 9-years-old.Jordan said it sounded like firecrackers until someone ran into Theater 8 yelling "they're shooting out here!"Hayden Miller told KUSA-TV that he heard several shots."Like little explosions going on and shortly after that we heard people screaming," he told the station.Hayden said at first he thought it was part of a louder movie next door. But then he saw "people hunched over leaving theater."The police chief said 10 victims died at the theater and four at area hospitals.At least 24 people were being treated at Denver area hospitals.Eleven people were being treated at the Medical Center of Aurora for gunshots and ranged from minor to critical condition. Two others walked in to be treated for tear gas contamination.Denver Health had seven victims — one in critical and the rest in fair condition.The youngest victim reported was a 6-year-old being treated at Children's Hospital Colorado, where a total of six victims were taken. Their condition wasn't known.Two people in critical condition were rushed to nearby Swedish Medical Center, spokeswoman Nicole Williams said.Aurora is on Denver's east side and is Colorado's third-largest city with 327,000 residents. It is home to a large Defense Department satellite intelligence operation at Buckley Air Force Base, as well as The Children's Hospital, the University of Colorado Hospital and a future Veterans Affairs hospital.

I'm not talking about the slang for being shot, I am talking about lead's characteristic as a neurotoxin. Lead is a neurotoxin that is especially damaging to foetuses and young
children, although it can harm the brains and nervous systems of adults,
as well.

It's not just a neurotoxin,Lead is a powerful neurotoxin that hurts almost all body organs, particularly the kidneys, red blood cells, and central nervous system. In young children, lead retards the development of the central nervous system and brain.Even tiny amounts can cause reduced IQ, reading and learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder and behavioral problems. As a result, childhood lead poisoning is associated with lower educational achievement, higher rates of high school drop-out and increased behavioral problems.

Lead's toxic characterisitcs have been well known for thousands of years. Hippocrates described the case of a metal extraction worker with
abdominal colic .
The metal was used extensively for purposes that ranged from tool
formation in ancient Egypt to the sweetening of wines in the Middle
Ages. Famously, in 1767 Sir George Baker demonstrated that Devonshire
colic was caused by lead in the production equipment of Devonshire cider .
In the 19th century lead poisoning was classified as a notifiable
occupational disease in Britain, though the necessity of reducing
workers' exposure was fully appreciated only in the latter half of the
20th century. Lead Paint It was banned in France and many other countries prior to 1920. Lead was banned in U.S. residential paint in 1978.

Lead shot and lead weight can severely affect individual organisms and threaten ecosys­tems (WHO 1989). After three to ten days of waterfowl ingesting lead shot, the poison will reach the bloodstream and be carried to major organs, like the heart, liver and kidneys. By the 17th to 21st day the bird falls into a coma and dies. Following the ingestion of lead shot, lead toxicosis has been observed in Magpie geese, Black swans, several species of duck (including Black duck and Musk duck) and Hardhead species (OECD 1993). We have also seen that it is effecting the California Condor population.

The upshot is that lead is known to be a serious toxin in the environment. The neurological damage caused by even low levels of lead is long term and often irreversible, it is no longer acceptable to only identify and attempt to treat already poisoned individuals. The only solution to lead poisoning is to prevent it by controlling lead hazards in the environment before poisoning occurs.

Unfortunately, we know of a group of people who play around with lead on a frequent basis and show some of the effects of lead poisioning.

For the most part, any attempts at gun control in the US have been fairly insignificant. A few cities trying to ban firearms, some registration; otherwise, there hasn't been anything worth noting. With one exception.

The Firearms covered under the National Firearms Act (NFA).

Fewer than ten registered machine guns (out of over 240,000 in the nation) have ever been used in any type of crime (including nonviolent offenses such as failing to notify ATF of address changes, etc.). The criminal use of other legally-owned NFA weapons (e.g., silencers) is similarly rare. The Title II weapons used in prominent crimes, such the AK-47s used in the North Hollywood shootout of 1997, have universally been illegally-owned or illegally-converted weapons.

Why?

Maybe it's because these items are strictly regulated:

All NFA items must be registered with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). Private owners wishing to purchase an NFA item must obtain approval from the ATF, obtain a signature from the Chief Law Enforcement Officer (CLEO) who is the county sheriff or city or town chief of police (not necessarily permission), pass an extensive background check to include submitting a photograph and fingerprints, fully register the firearm, receive ATF written permission before moving the firearm across state lines, and pay a tax. The request to transfer ownership of an NFA item is made on an ATF Form 4.[14] Many times law enforcement officers will not sign the NFA documents. There have been several unfavorable lawsuits where plaintiffs have been denied NFA approval for a transfer. These lawsuit include; Lomont v. O'Neill 2002 9th circuit, Westfall v. Miller 1996 5th circuit, and Steele v. National Firearms Branch 1985 11th circuit. In response Tennessee and Alaska have passed state laws which require the CLEO to execute the NFA documents. On October 28, 2010 in response to a writ of mandamus a Tennessee Williamson County Chancellor Robbie Beal found that the sheriff or CLEO is not required to execute NFA documents according to Tenn. Code Ann. 39-17-1361.

The NFA makes certain conduct a criminal offense, in relation to engaging in business as a manufacturer, importer, or dealer with respect to (NFA) firearms without having registered or paid a Special Occupational Tax (SOT); receiving or possessing a firearm transferred to oneself in violation of the NFA; receiving or possessing a firearm made in violation of the NFA; receiving or possessing a firearm not registered to oneself in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record; transferring or making a firearm in violation of the NFA; or obliterating, removing, changing, or altering the serial number of the firearm.

Violations of the Act are punishable by up to 10 years in federal prison and forfeiture of all devices or firearms in violation, and the individual's right to own or possess firearms in the future. The Act provides for a penalty of $10,000 for certain violations. A willful attempt to evade or defeat a tax imposed by the Act is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $100,000 fine ($500,000 in the case of a corporation or trust), under the general tax evasion statute. For an individual, the felony fine of $100,000 for tax evasion could be increased to $250,000

Result:

In 1984, then-ATF Director Stephen E. Higgins testified before the House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime, that registered NFA firearms aren't likely to be used in crimes, and more specifically that registered machine guns aren't considered a significant law enforcement problem. "In summary," Mr. Higgins concluded, "I would say that the National Firearms Act provides a satisfactory regulatory framework for keeping track of legally obtained weapons possessed by responsible, law-abiding gun owners."

So, the framework ensures that these weapons are well regulated and kept in the hands of people who are known to be law abiding. There are also very strong incentives to keep the people who own them law abiding through stiff penalties should they fail to remain within the law.

While the people who advocate removing the strict regulation for these weapons fail to recognise is that it is that regulatory framework which keeps them from being as abused as other firearms. We have already seen them being subject to abuse prior to the NFA, which was also the reason for the NFA (does the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre ring a bell for you?).

If anything, the fact that NFA weapons are so rarely seen in criminal activity shows that gun control works. It present an argument that stricter regulation of other firearms might have the same result in reducing crime.

Remember Heller-McDonald found that laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms did not violate the Second Amendment. (Heller at 54-5)

Also, don't forget that Alan Gura said during the oral argument:

MR. GURA: Well, my response is that the government can ban arms that are not appropriate for civilian use. There is no question of that.JUSTICE KENNEDY: That are not appropriate to –MR. GURA: That are not appropriate to civilian use.JUSTICE GINSBURG: For example?MR. GURA: For example, I think machine guns: It’s difficult to imagine a construction of Miller, or a construction of the lower court’s opinion, that would sanction machine guns or the plastic, undetectable handguns that the Solicitor General spoke of.

So, you shouldn't expect for NFA firearms to be deregulated, but it would make more sense and is backed up by the NFA experience that the act should be extended to other firearms.

The police problem is an acute one not because of the Fourth Amendment,
but because of the ease with which anyone can acquire a pistol. A
powerful lobby dins into the ears of our citizenry that these gun
purchases are constitutional rights protected by the Second Amendment,
which reads, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security
of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall
not be infringed."

There is under our decisions no reason why stiff
state laws governing the purchase and possession of pistols may not be
enacted. There is no reason why pistols may not be barred from anyone
with a police record. There is no reason why a State may not require a
purchaser of a pistol to pass a psychiatric test. There is no reason
why all pistols should not be barred to everyone except the police.

The leading case is United States v. Miller,307 U.S. 174,
upholding a federal law making criminal the shipment in interstate
commerce of a sawed-off shotgun. The law was upheld, there being no
evidence that a sawed-off shotgun had "some reasonable relationship to
the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia." Id. at 178. The Second Amendment, it was held, "must be interpreted and applied" with the view of maintaining a "militia."

The Militia which the States were expected to
maintain and train is set in contrast with Troops which they were
forbidden to keep without the consent of Congress. The sentiment of the
time strongly disfavored standing armies; the common view was that
adequate defense of country and laws could be [p151] secured through the Militia -- civilians primarily, soldiers on occasion.

Id. at 178-179.

Critics say that proposals like this water down the Second Amendment. Our decisions belie that argument, for the Second Amendment,
as noted, was designed to keep alive the militia. But if watering-down
is the mood of the day, I would prefer to water down the Second rather
than the Fourth Amendment. I share with Judge Friendly a concern that the easy extension of Terry v. Ohio,392 U.S. 1, to "possessory offenses" is a serious intrusion on Fourth Amendment safeguards.

He knows a lot more about Miller than that fat asshole Scalia and his clone Scalito.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

The NRA automatically opposes any legislation of any sort that has anything to do with regulating guns and ammo. So it's no surprise that they oppose this one.

California condors have been endangered for many decades, due to shooting and chemical toxicity. Now they face a new toxicity threat: lead. Like vultures, condors eat already-dead animals. Some of those animals have been killed by shooters, with the lead shot still inside their bodies.

Studies have now found that condors are dying at an alarming rate from lead toxicity.

The impact of lead poisoning on the condor population has long been debated, but a study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides some clarity. It shows that many condors are suffering the effects of lead poisoning, suggesting the population will continue to struggle as long as lead ammunition remains in use.

Researchers compiled the results of over 1,100 blood samples taken from 150 California condors between 1997 and 2010. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that children with blood lead levels above 450 ng/ml undergo treatment, and this is roughly the level at which the condors are taken in for treatment as well. About 20 percent of the birds sampled each year exceeded this level, and 48 percent of individuals living in the wild exceeded it at some point during the 14-year period. Blood lead levels as high as 6,100 ng/ml were seen.

Because blood samples only provide a snapshot of lead levels, the group also analyzed feathers from 18 condors. The concentration of lead in each segment of the feather depends on the concentration in the body at the time that segment formed. That means that each feather records a few months of exposure history. From comparisons of the most recent segment to blood levels, they were able to estimate blood lead levels over the duration of the feather.

The feathers showed that after ingesting lead, the birds’ blood concentrations exceeded 450 ng/ml for about a month. Unsurprisingly, blood samples often miss the peak lead concentrations, which were 1.4x to 14.4x higher. About 34 percent of the average feather history was higher than the level at which the condors are treated.

The Center for Biological Diversity just sent out a notice, urging their supporters to contact their legislators to put pressure on the gun industry to move away from lead shot.

Of course, the tons of lead shot into our environment each year don't just affect condors. They affect all wildlife... and us. I grew up in Arkansas, where duck hunting is very popular. Duck hunters routinely hunted in rice patties. Rice is a major crop in Arkansas, and they exported a large amount of their rice to Asian markets (believe it or not). Unfortunately, the level of lead in the rice, from all that duck hunting, exceeded safe limits for those Asian countries, who then banned purchase of the rice. Of course, us Americans were still eating it. (I don't know how long the ban lasted or if it is still in effect).

HERE is a report put out by the Arizona Game and Fish Department, reviewing the danger of lead poisoning to California condors and giving information on non-lead bullet sources. As the report details:

Biologists have documented over 300 instances of lead exposure in condors since testing began in 1999, with 45 to 95 percent of the condor population testing positive for lead exposure each year....

Although there may be other sources of lead, a scientific study funded by the Arizona Game and Fish Department has identified lead from spent ammunition as the major source of lead in condors. Background lead from the environment does not appear to be a factor. An additional study has determined that condor lead exposure rates are highest during the fall hunting season in northern Arizona. This study also concluded that during this same time, condors spend forage heavily on the Kaibab Plateau. The Arizona Game and Fish Department is committed to reducing the amount of lead available to condors by encouraging sportsmen to take lead reduction actions when hunting in condor range.

Condors incidentally ingest lead bullet fragments and shot remaining in game carcasses and gut piles. Fragments from lead bullets or lead shot have been found within the digestive tracts of condors 22 times in Arizona. Lead bullets fragment into hundreds of pieces before they exit a game such as a deer or coyote. Since condors are group feeders, and only one or two lead fragments or pellets can cause lead toxicity, one animal carcass or gut pile containing lead fragments or lead shot has the potential to poison several condors.

The report lists sources for non-lead ammo, and makes recommendations about minimizing effects, such as removing carcasses from access to condors.

Of course, I'm sure the NRA will label this as "junk science" and urge legislators to ignore completely. What's a few dead condors (out of only around 200 left in the wild) compared to gun industry profits and tradition?